EDITIONS

Follow us

Former United Nations Under Secretary-General Jamal Benomar, the alleged agent named in the filing, worked at the U.N. for 25 years, where he served as a special envoy for Yemen. | Hani Mohammed/AP Photo

Broidy accuses ex-diplomat of being secret Qatari agent

The Trump fundraiser claims the Persian Gulf state maintains a network of undeclared agents in the U.S.

Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy accused a former high-ranking United Nations diplomat of serving as an undeclared agent of Qatar in a court filing in California this week. In the filing, Broidy also claims that the Persian Gulf state maintains an entire “network” of undisclosed agents operating inside the U.S.

Broidy, a fundraiser for President Donald Trump who is suing Qatar and several individuals over the hacking of his emails last year, cited unspecified evidence turned up during discovery as the basis for those claims.

Story Continued Below

The allegations come at a time when Washington is grappling with the problem of covert foreign influence in U.S. politics. On Monday, the Justice Department indicted Russian citizen Mariia Butina on charges of acting as an unregistered agent of Vladimir Putin’s government. In recent months, special counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly expanded the scope of his probe beyond Russia to examine the influence of energy-rich Persian Gulf state in the U.S.

Former United Nations Under Secretary-General Jamal Benomar, the alleged agent named in the filing, did not respond to requests for comment.

Benomar, a U.K. citizen, was born in Morocco, where he was arrested and tortured for his opposition to the country’s government. He went on to work for 25 years at the U.N., where he served as a special envoy for Yemen and a special adviser to former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The most reliable politics newsletter.

Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox.

Email

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

A spokesman for the U.N., Farhan Haq, said Benomar left the organization last year. “During his time at the U.N., Mr. Benomar worked impartially as an international civil servant,” Haq said.

People working at the behest of foreign governments inside the United States are required to register with the Justice Department.

Broidy, a former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee who has defense contracts with the United Arab Emirates, has worked assiduously to undermine the standing of Qatar, UAE’s Persian Gulf rival, in Washington. Earlier this year, emails stolen from Broidy formed the basis of several news articles about those efforts. In March, Broidy sued Qatar, accusing the country and its agents of the hack.

A spokesman for Qatar’s Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Broidy’s allegations came in a filing that claims Benomar is evading service of a subpoena and that seeks permission to serve him by email or mail.

According to Broidy’s filing, a man picking up Benomar’s cellphone said, “Hello, hello, hello” and hung up when called by Broidy’s lawyer. Similarly, when called by POLITICO, a man picking up Benomar’s cellphone repeatedly said “hello” before hanging up. Benomar did not respond to follow-up text messages or to a message left at his home in New York.

According to the filing, Benomar’s wife has told Broidy’s team that Benomar is traveling internationally.

“Unregistered foreign agents shouldn’t be able to flee the country when they’re exposed in order to avoid accountability in the U.S. justice system,” Lee Wolosky, a lawyer for Broidy, told POLITICO.